At the beginning of a fresh, new year, there may be no better advice to managers and leaders than this:

Invest in Your Own Growth

Other people have likely invested in your personal and professional development. You have reaped the benefits of their teaching, training, coaching, advising and mentorship. But as your career progresses and as you take on greater leadership responsibilities, there are fewer people investing in you – and more people looking for you to invest in them.

Take the advice of your friendly flight attendant:

Put on your own mask first.

Start by defining what success means to you. Then, take ownership for defining your own growth goals and for developing relationships with the people who will help you achieve them.

Listen in to this week’s podcast as we discuss a comprehensive list of questions that will help you define what success looks like for you and what kinds of growth goals are worth your investment. The answers are different for everyone.

Once you’ve worked through those questions, we encourage you to answer these:

• • What will you do this year to develop yourself?
  • Who will you enlist to help you?
  • If you’re successful, how will you know it?

We hope the ideas we’re discussing in this week’s show will help you start the new year with a new resolve to invest in your own growth!

We love hearing your questions and responses. Please feel free to share them in a comment or by connecting with one of us on LinkedIn (see links to our profiles below).

Until next time, manage to make a difference every day!

+ Larry Sternberg, J.D. and Kim Turnage, Ph.D.

This post highlights Chapters 69 and 70 of Managing to Make a Difference (Wiley), a handbook for hitting the sweet spot of middle management. Connect with Kim Turnage and Larry Sternberg on LinkedIn to see their latest updates.